What to expect next...

What to expect next...

According to the last trustee's report of receipts and disbursements, I calculated that we will have our BK13 paid off Feb 2013. Which is ahead of schedule due to the fact we turned in all income tax refunds. Now I am learning from the other people here that the Trustee and the courts can drag their heels in the paperwork that follows.

Can you all kind folks enlighten me as to what reality will play out please?

We are in desperate need of a second car. Our 2006 truck (included in the BK) is sucking the life out of me. We've barely afforded repairs and it's been stressful only having the one ageing vehicle when it's a 30 mile commute one way to work. So the 1st order of business once we have our discharge is a car loan.

I am thinking a very modest new car like a Kia Soul. But also pray to God we can have a few stress free months to save a down payment.

Re: What to expect next...

Hi there! Not sure if you know but you can get financed for a vehicle before the discharge, you just have to get the trustee's approval. I was able to finance a $16K used vehicle through a subprime lender in 2008. My ch 13 wasn't discharged until 2011. I received zero down financing too.

Re: What to expect next...

Well each state works differently in the discharge process. Below is what was sent to me when they were starting to prepare for discharge. From start to finish it was 4 months. I know how you feel about needing a car because my car too had turned into a money pit. So 4 days after I received my discharge I leased a car. I could have done a purchase but I just chose to lease. My scores were all above 700 so it was a pretty painless process. But that's because during the last 2 years of my bk I started cleaning up my credit preparing for this day.

I can tell you that I started to receive all kinds of mailers to get a new car almost immediately after my discharge posted on pacer. So I'm sure you will be able to get a car but it might be at a very high interest rate. But if you pay promptly you can refinance probably with one of your local CU's to get the rate down within a year. But you have to do that in conjunction with cleaning your reports. Anyway here is the letter I recieved so you know what the process is and again from the time I received this letter until my discharge it was about 4 months.

The is the letter that was sent was titled "Notice of Preparation for Discharge"

You have successfully arrived at the final phase of completing your chapter 13 plan. We are preparing your case for discharge. Over the next 20 weeks your case will go through several phases as you move toward receiving your discharge from chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Please be patient during these final phases. These final phases will seem long because you have made many sacrifices and are finally near your goal. The phases of your plan will go through over the next 20 weeks are required. It is our goal that your plan proceeds to discharge without interruption. If it is determined that an oversight has occurred, we could be required to reinstate your wage assignment. In the event issues should arise, you should contract your attorney immediately.

Attached to this letter is an informative "Discharge Checklist" that summarizes the steps your case will proceed through over the next 20 weeks. Review the list carefully and take appropriate action where necessary. If you have questions, please contact your attorney:

Termination of Wage assignment: Letter sent to employer to stop wage deductions.

Final disbursement and possible refunds: Your case has been set to pay your creditors in full on the next scheduled monthly disbursement and any remaining funds will be sent to you.

Attorney fee orders received prior to final disbursement:Your attorney may review your file to determine if there are any other attorney fees outstanding and due. In the event that we receive an order allowing attorney fees prior to the final disbursements, we are obligated to pay the attorney fees. This could interfere with the final disbursement or any refund that we amy anticipate. If your wage assignment has already been terminated by your employer, you will have to remit the additional payments to this office by money order so your case can proceed to discharge.

Attorney fee orders received after final disbursement: If we receive an order for attorney fees after the final disbursement, your attorney will probably forward the order to you to pay the fees directly.

Mortgage payments: You are now responsible for making your own mortgage payments again. It is imperative that you contact your mortgage company immediately to determine your due date, monthly payment about.

Issued Checks: Once we have completed all disbursements on your case, your case is monitored monthly to determine if all issued checks on your case are cashed. Creditors have 90 days to cash checks. Your case will be monitored monthly closely to determine when all issued checks have been cashed. If checks are not cashed within 90 days or are returned or reissued for any reason, this could extend the time allowed to cash checks.

Creditors that cannot be located (unclaimed funds): If there is a creditor who filed a valid claim and we issued a check that is returned because the creditor cannot be located, these funds are required to be turned over to the Bankruptcy court as unclaimed funds.

Final Report: Once we determine that all issued checks have been cashed, we submit a final report to the court. You will receive a copy of this report. Please be advised that your creditors will also receive a copy of this report and have the right to object to your discharge within 30 days of receipt of this Final Report.

Certifications for Dsicharge-Domestic Support obligation and personal financial management course: You may be required to file certifications witht he court regarding domestic support obligations (child support/alimony) and an additional personal financial management course to be eligible for discharge. Contact your attorney to discuss.

Discharge: You will receive a copy of the Discharge of Debtor directly from the Bankruptcy Court.

Re: What to expect next...

Hmmm... I didn't get any of that. I am not sure how long after you pay it off will it be discharged as you said you paid it off early. All I know is I couldn't wait to get a car until my BK was discharged. 3 additional years would have been too long for me. In fact getting the car before discharge was to my advantage because it was only new account I had for a year before I got the Orchard card. I have since traded that car in for a tier 1 luxury lease on a 2012 Acura TL. I wouldn't have been able to get this car last month without the 3 years of good payment history on the previous car prior to discharge. For me, it worked to my advantage.

Re: What to expect next...

MovingForward_2012 wrote:Hmmm... I didn't get any of that. I am not sure how long after you pay it off will it be discharged as you said you paid it off early. All I know is I couldn't wait to get a car until my BK was discharged. 3 additional years would have been too long for me. In fact getting the car before discharge was to my advantage because it was only new account I had for a year before I got the Orchard card. I have since traded that car in for a tier 1 luxury lease on a 2012 Acura TL. I wouldn't have been able to get this car last month without the 3 years of good payment history on the previous car prior to discharge. For me, it worked to my advantage.

Re: What to expect next...

MovingForward_2012 wrote:A ch 13. Had to get trustee's approval for the previous car purchase in 2008. Filed it in 2005. It wasn't discharged until 2011 (long 5 year plan). Ch 13 was removed from CRAs in Oct 2012.

Whew!! The removal of the bk must have been a great weight off of your shoulders! I filed a 5 year plan as well in 2007 and from the 1st filing to the date of discharge totaled almost 69 months! Mine won't fall off until early 2014 but all of the IIB accounts should all fall off between Jan and June of 2013. So not much longer for the accounts.

Do you recall how quickly your IIB accounts fell off? I mean did any of them fall off early? I have 2 that say Jan 2013 so I'm like it should be today right!! LOL!!! And did the bk stay on right up to the last day possible?

Re: What to expect next...

Yeah but there is still one on there. A ch 7 filed in 2003. Will be removed Aug 2013. I really screwed up 8-10 years ago, obviously. Once my reports are BK free, I will be super happy.

Yes the Ch 13 actually fell off a month early in Sept so I am hoping the same will happen with Ch 7. The plans are LONG and it ties up your finances for a long time. I know how you feel. But you are almost there. I saw a big boost in my credit score about a year ago so I think you will see a boost long before it falls off and it sounds like you did given you were able to lease. Leases typically require a score of 700+ so congrats to you on getting an auto loan lease approval!

Re: What to expect next...

MovingForward_2012 wrote:Yeah but there is still one on there. A ch 7 filed in 2003. Will be removed Aug 2013. I really screwed up 8-10 years ago, obviously. Once my reports are BK free, I will be super happy.

Yes the Ch 13 actually fell off a month early in Sept so I am hoping the same will happen with Ch 7. The plans are LONG and it ties up your finances for a long time. I know how you feel. But you are almost there. I saw a big boost in my credit score about a year ago so I think you will see a boost long before it falls off and it sounds like you did given you were able to lease. Leases typically require a score of 700+ so congrats to you on getting an auto loan lease approval!

Oh well after all you've been through the countdown is on so maybe it will be gone by July....crossing my fingers for you.

As for my scores, well I seriously worked on getting my reports clean the last 2 years of my bk. My car was falling apart and costing me an arm and a leg in repairs. So if there was one thing I was determined to do when I got my discharge papers was to get a car. Literally within 5 days of me getting those papers I had my keys to my new car in my hand. When my scores were pulled my highest score was 730 on EQ and 712 on TU so yea I easily qualified for both a loan and a lease. The rates were awesome as well at 1.99% for up to 60 months, but I just chose to lease because I know that after 2 or 3 years I will be ready for another car.

Had I not cleaned my reports and let the dust settle I could only imagine what rates I would have been offered. I've had some mailers come to home offering 16% interest and all I can do is thank my lucky stars I don't have to deal with them. When you are in a chp13 bk I heard so many people say that you shoudn't do anything with your credit, blah blah blah. Well I didn't care what they said because I knew what my goals were and if I would have listened to the nay sayers I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now. So I always tell anybody I can to work on your reports when you can't get nothing so that when you need something you can get something.

Re: What to expect next...

I didn't actively pursue cleaning up my credit. I did do some disputes as one creditor claimed I filed another third BK and included them in it which I did no such thing! That was one error that really ticked me off. I can't quite remember when the creditors in BK fell off my report. I had a car included in BK and I got the title shortly after discharge. All of my creditors that were included just wrote in the comments that the debt was a part of the Ch 13 plan. I filed a 13 two years after the 7 to try to save our house from foreclosure but we lost it anyway. I had no CCs when I filed the 13...those were included in the 7 and those accounts have been gone for 5 years now. I think they fell off at the 7 year mark.

What brought my scores up into the 700's was paying the new credit I obtained on time. But I was shutout from the credit world from 2003-2008 due to the double BKs.

We have been working hard towards getting a mortgage for awhile now and back in July, I was told I had to wait two years after discharge to close on a FHA loan which would be Jan 29, 2013. But I found out yesterday that only applies if the Ch 13 is still reporting, which it is not so we have no restrictions. Got pre approved yesterday with a mid fico of 703! So we are going out with a realtor today to look at some homes. We will close by mid February. There are a couple of brand new homes that will be built and ready for move in by Feb and Mar. Having a brand new home has been a dream of mines for so long! I can't believe we are so close to it becoming reality! The Ch 7 doesn't matter anymore because it is so old but I still can't wait until it is deleted.

I get tired of cars after 2-3 years like you. Not sure if I will get tired of the Acura TL though so I may buyout the lease. I also leased to keep our DTI low as only about half the price of the car gets reported to the credit bureaus. I didn't want a huge car finance trade line on the CRs that would limit our purchasing power.

Good for you for taking charge of your credit under the BK. that has saved you a lot of the credit woes that I went through. I should have been more proactive but I got discouraged.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, along with additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Score and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.